Hong Kong Tops List of Cities With The Most Multimillionaires

A study compiled by New World Wealth indicated that nearly half of the total individual wealth in Hong Kong was from millionaires. It is reported that there are over 15,000 multimillionaires in Hong Kong, the highest than any other city around the globe. New York, London, Moscow and Los Angeles comprised the remaining top five spots on the list.

Andrew Amoils, senior analyst at New World Wealth, said the net wealth of Hong Kong millionaires has been rapidly growing over the years and is in step with the overall global trend of increased wealth accumulation for the richest segment of society.

"Interestingly, over the past 10 years, worldwide millionaire and multimillionaire numbers have grown at vastly different rates. Millionaire numbers worldwide have gone up by 58 percent during this period, whilst multimillionaire numbers have gone up by 71 percent," he said.

Numerous sources were used by New World Weath to measure the wealth of various major cities around the world. Databases which includes information, such as prime property value, yachts, art collection, and private jets, were all counted towards wealth accumulation.

Although the wealthy in Hong Kong continue to see their prosperity rise, there remains a significant gap between the rich and the poor. It is estimated that nearly 20 percent of Hong Kong's population is classified as poor since they fall below the government's poverty line.

Dr. Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung, a lawmaker and lecturer in applied social sciences at Polytechnic University, said that there must be a redistribution of wealth to achieve a balance.

"There is a huge income disparity here. The government needs to get the rich people to pay more tax, and redistribute the money for the poor through a sound retirement system," he said.

Beijing and Shanghai each had 4,900 and 3,600 multimillionaires, respectively.